Blame It On My Youth
by Band Candy68
Summary: Juliana Greenwald has been in love with Ron Weasley ever since the first time she saw him. Unfortunately, Ron has set his eyes on someone else. But when Juliana searches for her niche, something happens that could change his mind.
1. Dreamers

**Disclaimer:** You know the drill. Obviously I don't own Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, Harry Potter, and company. They all belong to the lovely and talented J.K. Rowling. I did, however, create Juliana Greenwald and Steven Blake. They're mine. Don't take them, because I love them so! Oh, and sadly the "cool" dialogue isn't entirely mine. I so wish it was. But that was inspired by Joss Whedon and the awesome writers on "Buffy the Vampire Slayer." (More specifically, the episode entitled "The Zeppo"…and, yes. I really am that much of a geek.)

**Chapter 1/Dreamers**

It was a beautiful day and they were sitting by the lake, deep in conversation and laughing.

Juliana threw her head back and laughed.

"No, no, no, no, no!" said Ron, holding up his hands as if saying, "Wait for it." He continued. "And _THEN_ the stupid git says he's going to tell Snape on me. What bloody good is that gonna do?!" He resumed laughing. They were, of course, talking about Draco Malfoy's latest blunder to his title of Fearless School Bully. Malfoy is extremely egotistical and is all talk, but when faced with…well, anything… he screams and runs away like the little girl that he is.

"Oh, but that hex was brilliant! Raising the pitch of his voice? Madame Pomfrey _still_ hasn't been able to bring his voice back down!" Juliana laughed.

Ron leaned closer to her. "I love your laugh."

Juliana smirked. "Well, thanks."

"You know…you're…er. You're quite pretty."

She blushed slightly and looked down. "Thanks but, not _really._"

He leaned even closer still, his face inches away. "But you are. I've always thought so."

Just as their lips were about to meet, Ron said, "Juliana, wake up."

"What?"

Everything started to turn fuzzy.

"Jule. Wake. Up."

Her world was fading away.

"Juliana! The bell rang! Wake up!"

She felt a nudge and bolted up right, her hair falling in her eyes. She was surprised to find herself in the History of Magic classroom. She looked to the source of the nudge and saw the bright red hair, freckles, and blue eyes. Her heart flew up in her mouth. Her eyes widened in shock and she gasped.

"Uh. I…um. H-hi, Ron!" she tried to smile and her stomach lurched. She suddenly realized she could have been sleeping with her mouth open and quickly brought her hand up to her mouth, praying that she hadn't been sleeping in a puddle of her own drool.

"Welcome back to the Land of the Conscious. You better hurry or you'll be late for Charms."

"Uh-uh huh." She fumbled around with her books and watched him leave and begin walking to Charms with his best friends Harry and Hermione. Juliana groaned and slammed her head down on her desk.

"Ow."

* * *

"I had the dream again," Juliana said to her best friend Steven Blake as he sat across from her at lunch. She stared at her food as she blurted it out.

"Romantic conversation by the lake?" he replied instantly.

"Yep."

"Oh, hunny, this is getting you nowhere! Just talk to him!" Steven was wearing a black turtleneck under his robes. Juliana wondered how he couldn't be burning up.

"I do talk to him!"

"Oh, and I'm sure he finds your stuttering and 'uh's very sexy indeed," Steven remarked sarcastically.

"I do NOT stutt—Oh Merlin. I...I do. When I'm n-nervous—"

"Oh, stop. You're turning me on," he said blandly as he stabbed a leaf of his salad.

"NO," she hissed. "He's...he's looking over here!" Juliana dove for her schoolbag and looked around frantically for something to hide herself with.

"Jules, you're bloody hopeless, you know that?" Steven said leaning over the table to talk to her as she rummaged through her bag on the floor.

Juliana peered up over the table. "I know."

"Hun, come back up. He's not looking. You're safe."

She sat back at the table.

"…I need a thing," she said after a long silence.

Steven blinked. "A what-now?"

"A thing. I don't have a thing. Something that makes me cool. Maybe if I had a thing, Ron would notice me…. And, regardless, it's been bugging me. This whole 'cool' issue. What is it? How does one get it? Who doesn't have it? And who decides who doesn't have it? What…is the essence of cool?"

"Not sure. Hey, are you going to eat that? Screw this diet," Steven said shoving his plate of salad away from him and grabbing Juliana's plate.

"I mean, _you_, Steven. You're considered more or less cool."

"…Ah 'm?" Steven asked with his mouth full of food.

"Well…you're…you're gay! So you have that going for you. And you're in the Richard Harris Memorial Toad Choir! I bet you get a lot of boyfriends from that!"

Steven stared at her and tried to catch the food from falling out of his mouth.

"Okay. Never mind. But my point is…everyone needs a thing. A quirk. Anything! Just something no one else has. …What do I have?"

Steven quickly swallowed his mouthful of food and put his hands on hers. "An exciting new obsession. Which I feel makes you very special."

* * *

"RON! PAY. ATTENTION. Do you want to pass Astronomy or not?" Hermione said sharply. Harry tried to hide his snickering behind a goblet of pumpkin juice.

"What? Oh! Sorry. …What?"

Hermione raised her eyebrows. "You with me?"

"Er—yes," he said uncertainly.

"Name Jupiter's moons."

Ron stared at her dumbfounded for a few moments and then got a look of someone who had just figured out something clever. "I see where you're going…we didn't study Jupiter's moons yet! You're trying to trick me!" Harry, who had been gulping down his pumpkin juice, spit it back out as Ron said this and looked at him in disbelief.

"Ron, we just studied them an HOUR ago," Hermione said tartly.

"Yeah, even _I_ knew that, mate," Harry said. "You alright?"

"I don't know. I've just been thinking—"

"Wow," interrupted both Harry and Hermione.

"Oh, hah. Hah. You guys are a bloody_ riot_."

"Well, go on. Tell us. What's up?" Hermione said.

"Now…don't read into this. I'm just curious is all. That girl, over there. With the short red hair? Her name's…Juliana? Right?"

"Juliana Greenwald, yeah," replied Harry as Hermione turned her head as fast as she could when she heard Ron mention Juliana's name.

"Whatabouther?" Hermione said shrilly, snapping her head back to Ron.

"…How is she?"

"Well, you could go ask her yourself, I suppose," Harry said, craning his neck to look at her. "Seems she's doing fine."

"No! I mean, what's she like?"

"She's nice. She's _really_ nice. Very talkative. She'll find anything to talk to people about," Hermione answered and then, as if she had come to a realization, asked, "Why?!"

Ron frowned a bit, looking puzzled. "…She doesn't talk to _me._"

Harry noticed that Hermione looked somewhat relieved.

"Well, Ron. Not everyone can like you. Fact of life. Sorry to break it to you. Now, Jupiter's moons…"


	2. Geeks and Geeks

**Disclaimer:** You know the drill. Obviously I don't own Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, Harry Potter, and company. They all belong to the lovely and talented J.K. Rowling. I did, however, create Juliana Greenwald and Steven Blake. They're mine. Don't take them, because I love them so!

**Author's Notes:** Thanks to Miles, Rissie, Dale, and, Clare for helping me during my summary crisis. It's amazing how much your brain _doesn't_ work when you're running on low sleep. A little shout out to "Will & Grace" here with the "Told Ya So." And thank you for the reviews! I'll try to get Chapter 3 up as quickly as I can, but it's quite long and I'm still in the process of writing it.

**Chapter 2/Geeks and Geeks**

"And you're _sure_ you want to do this?" Steven said.

"Of course I'm sure!" Juliana had her hand on the doorknob to a classroom she was just about to enter. Steven gave her a skeptical look.

"I'll be fine!" she reassured him. "I'm good at this!"

Steven shook his head. "You're a brave, brave soul. Good luck, luv." With that he kissed her cheek and left.

Juliana opened the door to the classroom and walked in. She closed the door and turned around to face the room before her. All of the occupants were acne-stricken, greasy haired boys that belonged to Ravenclaw. They all stopped talking about the latest issue of _Popular Wizarding Science_ and stared at her with their mouths open. There was a shocked murmur making its way throughout them that Juliana thought sounded like, "A _girl!_" The boy who had the largest amount of pimples and the greasiest hair that was slicked back got up and walked to her. Juliana forced a smile. The boy seemed to have a cold. He sneezed, sniffed, and wiped his nose with his hand. He broke out into a metallic smile and offered the same hand to Juliana.

"Hi, I'm Marshall. Welcome to the Wizard's Chess Club!"

"I'm Juliana!" she said through her smile, trying to hide her disgust, as she lightly took his hand, shook it once, and dropped it. "Nice to…meet you!"

Marshall then proceeded to laugh the most obnoxious laugh Juliana had ever heard, which ended in a snort. "Well, come on, Juliana, don't be shy! Meet the guys!" He walked her over to the small cluster of boys. "These are the guys!" he said with his arm extended to them. Each one of them did a hand gesture Juliana assumed they thought was cool or impressive. She just continued her plastered smile and nodded to each of them.

"Sit down! Sit down!" Marshall said excitedly. "We're gonna start the meeting!" Juliana slid into a desk, making sure to keep a space between her and the boy next to her. She heard raspy breathing and turned to him. He pushed his glasses up his shiny nose and waved.

"I'm Norm!" he said looking her up and down.

"Hi, Norm." Juliana crossed her arms and faced forward. She looked at her watch. She had only been in there for 5 minutes and it felt like an hour.

Marshall stood at the front of the classroom. "As president of the Wizard's Chess Club, I'm pleased to announce to you all--" He sniffed and continued on, "That Professor McGonagall said if we win the championship tournament this year, she will have special robes made for us. They'll say 'Wizard's Chess Club' on the back and have our names and year we graduate from Hogwarts on the front." He sniffed again and wiped his nose. The boys all shifted around and gave each other excited looks. "Well, that's the only announcement I have. So with that said…" Marshall waved his wand and several chessboards appeared in front of them. "We need some serious practice if we want those robes! Juliana, I'll be your partner since you're new."

All of the boys looked disappointed and Juliana laughed nervously. Halfway into her game with Marshall (of which he was winning), the boy who introduced himself to her as Norm came over.

"Oh, hey, Norm! Knight to F6," Marshall said without taking his eyes off the board. Juliana stared at the game hopelessly. "Norm, tell me, did you read that article about ultra-magnetism in _Muggle_ _Science_ the other day?"

"Indeed, I did. Why?"

"Have any thoughts? Rook to A5."

"Well, Marshall, to explain the muggle theory of ultra-magnetism, _a_ times the cognate of _c_, you would simply coerce the first coefficient to merge with the second, causing a nuclear explosion."

"Good point. But did you consider the chemical aftermath? Queen to B12. Checkmate." The board disappeared with curling smoke.

"Ah. You got me there. Unless you magnetically charge the square of the fourth numeral with nine gamma radioactive..."

Juliana drifted into boredom and a daydream about Ron and a dark corridor…

"Well THAT was a complete waste of time!" Juliana dropped her bag on the floor and plopped into an armchair in the Gryffindor common room. Steven started to say something and then clamped his hands over his mouth, laughing behind them. "Bloody hell. Here it comes…" Finally it seemed that Steven couldn't take it anymore. He jumped up from his chair and did a little dance.

"Told ya so! Told ya so! Told ya so! Told ya so!"

Juliana sunk into the comforts of her chair as he continued. "Yeah…so?" She noticed her fellow Gryffindors were beginning to look their way. She smiled and waved, trying to hide her embarrassment. "Steven. Sit down or sod off!" she hissed.

He sat down giggling. There was a pause. "Told ya so!"

"STEVEN!"

"Jules, did you _really_ think that he'd be in that club?"

"Well, he loves Wizard's Chess!" Juliana protested.

"But did you think _that_ sweet thing over there," Steven pointed at Ron who was sitting across the huge common room, "would be spending his free time with nerds who hide _The Theory of Potion Making_ under their bed instead of porn?"

"Well…he hangs out with Hermione…"

"Ooh, that's a good point."

"No matter. I have another idea."

"And what's that?"

"DA. Harry still holds the meetings. And Defense Against the Dark Arts is my favorite and best subject! The next meeting is tomorrow night. Should be fun! And this time I know for a _fact_ that Ron is in it."

"That's my little schemer!" Steven jokingly patted her on the head. Juliana rolled her eyes.

"I'm going to head up to the dorm and sleep. Egging on pawns to attack sure takes a lot out of you," she yawned.


	3. The DA Meeting

**Disclaimer:** You know the drill. Obviously I don't own Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, Harry Potter, and company. They all belong to the lovely and talented J.K. Rowling. I did, however, create Juliana Greenwald and Steven Blake. They're mine. Don't take them, because I love them so! The spells are J.K.'s as well.

**Author's Note: **Thanks to my lovely beta Miles. Sorry this took me so long! I was in a play that just ended. So now I have time! This chapter is my baby thus far, so I hope you enjoy it! And I'm glad you love Steven as much as I do. Anyway, I know that they learn "_vera__ vetra_" in their 2nd year. But for lack of creativity on my part, we're going to say it's something they do in 6th year. Oh. And for some reason my tabs are screwed up. I don't know what's up with FFN, but just...pretend the paragraphs are indented...or something. I think that's it. Review please!

**Chapter 3/The DA Meeting**

It was during their break before dinner when Ron and Hermione were in the library. Hermione had grabbed every Transfiguration book she could think of. She was determined for Ron to pass his classes this year! Currently the books were being used to keep the mouse Hermione nicked from McGonagall's office from running off the edge of the table. Ron was sitting at the table, propping his head up with his hand, staring sleepily at Hermione.

_"Vera vetra!"_ Hermione said as she effortlessly waved her wand and the very scared mouse turned into a teacup in an instant. _"Reverso,"_ she said plainly and the cup turned back into the mouse.

"I don't understand how you do it!" Ron stood up and stared at the mouse. He lazily waved his wand. "_Vera vetra." _Nothing.

"Okay, first of all. Put some oomph into it, Ronald! And second, it's more of a flick of the wrist and _then_ a wave instead of it just being a wave."

Ron put on a fake smile and in a mock cheerleader tone, waved his wand again and said, "_VERA VETRA!"_ The mouse turned into a fur covered teacup.

"Well…at least you got the oomph…" she said helpfully.

"You know what? I'm not going to get this. I might as well be a Squib."

"Oh, shut your face!"

"I'm not perfect like you! And I never will be. So don't tell me to '_shut my face_'!" Ron could feel his temper and bitterness rising.

"Ron, so help me, I will _MAKE_ YOU PERFECT!" Hermione slammed a book shut and angrily put it back in its place on the bookshelf.

"_SHHHH!_" Madame Pince poked her head around the shelves and glared at Ron and Hermione. And just as quickly as she appeared, she was gone. They stood in an awkward silence.

"Here. I'll…I'll show you." Hermione went over to Ron, stood behind him and put her hand over the hand that was clutching his wand.

"Hey, loosen your grip, will ya?" he said calmly.

"Sorry," Hermione blushed. She cleared her throat. "Okay…it's, uh. It's more like this." She slowly raised his arm, trying to hide the fact that inside her calm exterior, a whirlwind of emotion was going on. "Alright, say it with me. I'll do the motion for you."

_"Vera vetra!_" they both said as Hermione flicked Ron's wrist and waved his wand. In a tiny poof of smoke, the mouse turned into a teacup.

"See? Try it without me." And sure enough, Ron did the spell perfectly.

"I _knew_ you could do it!" Hermione said excitedly.

"Thanks to you…" Ron blushed an incredible shade of red. He stood there awkwardly as if trying to make up his mind. Finally, he bent down and kissed her on the cheek, turning into a deeper shade of red.

"Oh, Ron, don't be silly." Hermione stood on her tip-toes, wrapped her arms around his neck and brought her lips to his. Ron staggered backward and grabbed a chair for support. A second later, when he came to his senses, he put his hands on her hips and kissed back with such a fervor that allowed six years of tension to flow free. There was a loud crash from across the room. Neither one of them seemed to notice, nor did they care…

Juliana had dropped two heavy volumes of _The Ghosts' Revolution_ along with her parchment, quill, and bottle of ink (which completely shattered and left a seeping black puddle at her feet). She stood there in stunned silence with her hand covering her mouth. She could feel tears burning to be released.

"This isn't happening…it can't happen…I didn't even get a chance…" she muttered quietly to herself, shaking her head with wide eyes. She blinked and a tear fell, staining her blank parchment. Directly across from her on the other side of the library were Ron and Hermione.

* * *

Juliana couldn't remember how she got back to the dormitory. She was completely numb. Tears were silently streaming down her face. She threw herself on her bed and buried her face in her pillow. She didn't sob; she just closed her eyes and let the tears come. She felt a hand on her back and jumped. Looking through her teary and blurred eyes, she tried to determine who was invading her dramatic depressed moment.

"…Steven?! How? —But—boy's can't—the stairs—"

"Evidently have gaydar," he said without missing a beat and pulled her into a hug. "Hun, I'm _so_ sorry. I just found out and then I saw you run through the common room. Do you want to talk?" He pulled away and held her by her arms.

She sniffed and tried to smile. "It seems silly now, doesn't it?" Steven shook his head. She continued. "I don't know…somewhere in my disoriented mind…I hoped…I thought…that maybe I had a chance, even if it was just a glimmer of a chance. But I know that was bloody stupid of me. He didn't even know me." Steven conjured a box of tissues.

"Here," he said handing her one. "And you're not stupid. But you _do_ know that Ron and Hermione have been scalp over soles for each other, ever since first year when they insulted each other on the train."

Juliana sniffed again. "I know…I just…" she trailed off.

"Don't worry about it," he hugged her again. "And besides…there's always the possibility that after they deal with their tension that they just get bored with each other and it only lasts a week."

"Yeah, but I don't want to think about how they're releasing the tension. Just makes it worse," she said with a half smile.

"Well, I still think you should go to the DA meeting tonight."

"Oh, I don't know if I could handle that."

"I know you. You're strong. You can handle it. And maybe you'll dazzle Ron with your defensive talent!"

She couldn't help but laugh a little and roll her eyes, which were still red from crying. She was grateful for having a friend like Steven. Whatever the situation, he could always calm her down and make her smile. He stood up and started to walk toward the door.

"Why don't you rest a bit? Let your mind stop buzzing. I'll get you when it's time for the meeting."

Juliana half-smiled. "Thanks…"

"Anytime, luv."

Juliana closed her eyes. Half of her couldn't believe what she saw, but the other half told her that she should have seen it coming. She took a deep breath and slowly her thoughts died down and she returned to the lake. It was another perfectly sunny day. Ron's lips against hers felt like heaven.

"Jules!" She was once again shaken out of that dream. She whined incoherently and rolled over. She heard an exasperated sigh and felt her arms being pulled. The next thing she knew she was sitting up. "The meeting starts in 15 minutes! Come _on_, Jules! _Let's go!_" Juliana finally opened her eyes. There was no longer light outside. She realized that she slept through dinner.

"15 minutes?" she said trying to wake herself up. "How long was I asleep?"

"A few hours. Bloody _hell_ you're hard to wake up. Now, get going!"

"Wait—what? You're coming with me, right?"

"I wasn't exactly planning on it…"

Juliana's eyes widened in panic. "Steven, you have to come with me. Please!" She begged. "I absolutely can't go alone! If I'm alone, I don't know what I'd do! I mean, I'm about to go and get the shit kicked out of me by love and I need my best friend there to back me up because you care about me and my well-being!" She took a breath. "And besides. You're always talking about how hot Harry is."

Steven stared at her, debating the idea in his head. "Alright, fine! I'll go! But, come on! It's about to start!" he grabbed her hand and together they ran out of the girls' dormitory, through the common room, and out the portrait. They reached the Room of Requirement out of breath. When they entered the room, the usual DA members stared back at them. Harry greeted them.

"Oh, hey, Juliana! Steven!" He nodded at each of them.

Juliana smiled, "Hello…" she was quickly surveying the room. And then she saw them. Ron and Hermione were sitting in a corner, their hands interlocked, whispering and briefly stealing a kiss when the opportunity presented itself. Juliana felt her heart drop well below her already nauseated stomach. She tried her best to keep her smile on and moved to an open space in the room with Steven.

"It'll be alright…" Steven nudged her and offered a smile. She nodded and she suddenly felt a twinge of anger and jealousy course through her.

"I think that's everyone," Harry said looking at the eager members' faces. He looked at Ron and Hermione in the corner, "Oy! Are you two joining us or are you getting a room?"

They blushed and got up. Juliana felt her heart beat faster seeing that they continued to stay hand in hand. Once again, her eyes were burning as tears begged to be released. She looked down and blinked them back, feeling anger come over her again.

"So," Harry shifted a little uncomfortably at the attention he was getting. "I thought we could review the Reductor curse—"

"But _Harry_…we did that last year!" Ron whined, his arm draped over Hermione's shoulders. Juliana felt it again, each time it grew stronger.

"Yeah, but this is _this_ year. And we have new members. So we're reviewing. For those of you who are new, the Reductor curse blows whatever is in your path…well…out of your path."

"Oh, this is gonna be bloody boring," Ron muttered and rolled his eyes. Hermione gave him a look and Juliana didn't know whether to laugh or feel rotten again.

"So split up into pairs," Harry said, ignoring Ron's comment. "The incantation is _Reducto_. For the person who is on the opposite end of the curse, I have these pillows that the curse should hit instead of you." As Harry said this, a number of large pillows, that when held up would shield half of your body, appeared by each group of two. Soon pillows were flying about the room and the incantation could be heard sporadically.

Juliana held the pillow up as Steven tried the curse again and again…each time failing. She sighed and picked a piece of fuzz off her robes. She had already successfully done the curse 15 times.

"I don't get it!" Steven whined and stomped his foot. "I'm perfect at everything! Why not this?!"

"Well, O Egomaniacal One," she said pretending to bow. "It could be that you're not concentrating hard enough. And it's also all about emotional control."

"Emotional control? This coming from the girl who's an emotional rollercoaster?"

She shrugged. "Maybe that part of magic has become a habit for me. But you really aren't concentrating, I can tell."

"Well, it's not _my_ fault that Harry's so h—"

At that moment Harry appeared next to them. "All right? Do you need help with anything?"

Steven started nervously twirling his wand between his fingers. He tried to subtly smooth his robe. "Ye-yeah, I think we're good. Right, Jules? Yeah, it's going good." He smiled. Juliana raised her eyebrows at Steven's sudden strange behavior.

"Okay, great! I just wanted to be sure that you two are caught up to speed, so that's great! Just let me know if you need anything, I'm going to go check on Neville. He's quite scary with these kinds of curses." And with a laugh he left. Steven's currently tense form relaxed.

"Oh…my…G—" It dawned on Juliana.

"Don't say it."

"You…" She moved closer. "You fancy him!" she whispered excitedly. Steven bit his lip. "It's not like you just think he's dishy or anything! You _actually_ fancy him!" She hit his arm angrily. "Why didn't you tell me?!"

"Oww!" Steven whined and rubbed his arm. "And I don't know…slipped my mind, I guess." But Juliana wasn't paying attention anymore. Standing ten feet away from her were Ron and Hermione.

Hermione was giggling uncontrollably at something Ron said to her. Funny…Hermione never really struck Juliana as the giggly type. And then the two girls locked eyes. Something flashed in Hermione's eyes, something that looked like triumph. Juliana and Hermione used to get along fine until Hermione figured out that Juliana fancied Ron. Ever since then there was tension between the two girls. It was almost like an unspoken competition to see who could win the boy over. It may be safe to say that Hermione had the advantage. The look in her eyes didn't settle well with Juliana. It was as if Hermione was taunting her saying, "I win. You lose." The amount of emotion Juliana felt course through her was blinding.

"Jules?"

Her head snapped back to Steven. "I'm getting nowhere with this. Why don't you do it a few more times? Maybe I'll catch on from you."

Juliana nodded and switched places with Steven, who held up the pillow. She looked back at Ron and Hermione just as they broke a kiss. Hermione looked back at Juliana with that same look of gleeful triumph and everything after became a blur.

"_REDUCTO!_" Juliana heard a voice shout that sounded an awful lot like her own.

Hermione flew back across the room and hit the wall.

There was a unanimous gasp and all sounds in the room stopped. Juliana could only hear her heart pounding in her ears.

She looked at Steven who clutched the pillow with wide eyes. She looked around the room and everyone was staring at her the same way. Neville was even trembling.

Hermione sat up cradling her arm. Her nose was bleeding.

"Bugger," Juliana simply said. "Hermione, I'm…I'm sorry. I didn't mean—it was—I don't know how—bad…aim," she finished lamely.

Hermione said nothing. She just nodded and pinched her nose.

Juliana turned to Harry. "I don't think this is my thing. I'm just gonna go." She pointed to the door and started to walk toward it.

"What do you mean this isn't your thing? That was a _powerful_ Reductor curse!"

"Bad aim," she said again. She looked at Hermione. "Someone should get her to the hospital wing. Thanks for the welcome and all, Harry. But this isn't for me." With that, she left.

Everyone looked Steven who immediately got offended. "Well, _I_ didn't do it!" They still stared at him. He sighed. "I'm just gonna… follow the redhead," he said weakly, taking one more look at Harry. When he left he saw that Juliana was already making her way to the Gryffindor tower. He jogged to catch up with her.

"Emotional control, eh?"

Juliana said nothing.


End file.
